Locked out in Pucón

Had a bit of an annoying experience this afternoon: got locked out my my hostel, El Refugio! The owner, Peter, gave me a key to the front door when I arrived this morning; but when I tried to get back inside, after going down the road for some lunch, the key wouldn't work. I could feel the lock trying to open, but it just wouldn't. After trying to open the daym door for about an hour, I gave up and went for a bike ride. Anyway, when I got back this evening, Peter said that he hadn't been able to open the door either, this evening. Apparently, the problem has now been fixed, courtesy of a large amount of WD-40.

It seems that during the day, for quite a long period of time, there simply isn't anyone around at El Refugio. Peter and Lorena are off at the volcano all day, running classes in the skiing / snowboarding school there. There's a cleaning lady who comes in the morning, but she's gone by lunchtime. And most of the guests are off doing activities all day, every day, as well. A bit strange, really: you'd think they'd try to keep the place staffed throughout the day — I mean, what if people show up in the afternoon, looking for a bed? I've hardly ever seen a hostel before, that isn't staffed pretty much round-the-clock.

Well, maybe things are a bit different round here: after all, this is a sleepy little town; and it is very much the off-peak season right now; and El Refugio is just a little family-run affair. But still.